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By Will Pavone, MBC Tysons Young Adults and Edge Community Pastor
Romans 1:16 is a great verse for the McLean Bible Church family to memorize together because it best summarizes the apostle Paul’s ministry as a bondservant of Christ. Some scholars suggest that verses 16 and 17 of Romans 1 are THE summary statement of the whole book of Romans. Everything Paul writes in the rest of the letter is built upon that statement. Since these words form the most important sentence in the most important letter ever written, why wouldn’t we memorize it together?
Much can be said about this great verse, but we will focus on the last phrase, “To the Jew first and also to the Greek.” What…
By Carole Schryber, MBC Tysons Attendee and Women’s Conference Breakout Speaker
One day as I was driving I stopped at a red light, and turned around to check on my youngest son who was only four at the time. Eighteen years later, I still can picture that day. The sun was shining in the back seat reflecting on his beautiful face. I declared, “Jack, you have the most beautiful blue eyes.” Without missing a beat, he replied, “God colored me good.”
Over the years I have often reflected on the profoundness of that statement. Jack understood that he was the product of a Creator God, who drew him in a unique way. And the result was good.
Sadly, it had taken his…
By Tony Alany, MBC Arlington Director of Creative Arts
We’ve been talking a lot at MBC about discipleship, namely, disciples of Christ being disciple-makers. As I’ve been reading through the Old Testament (for those of you who think Christians just need to live in the New Testament…I beg you to rethink that approach) I came across the story of Elijah (disciple-maker) and Elisha (disciple) in 2 Kings 2.
See how this passage really lays out for us what disciples being disciple-makers looks like in real life:
- Elijah was a man who followed God wherever he was led.
- Elisha followed Elijah, who followed God.
- Elisha fought to stay with Elijah when God sent him out, never wanting to leave his side. He loved Elijah deeply…
By Joe Henriques, MBC Tysons Campus Pastor
Post was originally published by Joe Henriques on January 20, 2010 at http://mbctysonsblog.org.
Yesterday, I enjoyed extra time with my family because it was a holiday called Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. But, we never talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the impact that he made on life in America. I’m guessing that most of you reading this didn’t talk about him, either. The same would be true if it were President’s Day, or Memorial Day, or—most sadly for many Americans—Christmas.
As a society, we enjoy the shadows and often don’t give much thought to the substance that made it possible. In fact, celebrating shadows is so pleasurable and celebratory in itself, that…
By Rachel Thomas, MBC Loudoun Director of Discipleship for Women and Ministry Teams
When I lived in downtown Chicago, there was a certain buzz around the beginning of October. The Chicago Marathon completely shut down the city for one day. However, the days prior to the Sunday morning race, you could see hundreds of runners doing their final trainings, street sweepers cleaning the route, and orange “CITY OF CHICAGO” barricades placed on corners and intersections redirecting cars and cabs. All the runners in “The Windy City” would be bundled up and layered appropriately to stay warm before crossing the starting line on those crisp, fall mornings. But then you could see them just a few miles later throwing off all…
By Nate Keeler, MBC Arlington Campus Pastor
I recently had a conversation with a friend from MBC Arlington who asked me the question, “Is there an ideal way that discipleship should happen?” Great question. This one question leads to many: Is it one-on-one? Older to younger? Peer-to-peer? In a classroom? In a small group? Or is it in a mid-size Bible study? And what should we study? An inductive Bible study? Life topics? Systematic theology? This is just a sampling of the kinds of questions getting serious about discipleship will provoke. Often I will speak to people who are dogmatic and passionate about discipleship happening only one way, and they will have their example from Scripture to prove it! But…
By Mekdes Haddis, MBC Silver Spring Director of Discipleship
Growing up in Ethiopia, it was very easy and comfortable to invest in the local church I grew up in. But I don’t think I ever considered other believers around the world or even the other churches in the city I lived in. I mean why would I think of someone I hadn’t met? To be quite honest, I didn’t know there was a difference between the Local Church and Global Church. I understood very well the role I was to play in my local church but that was it. One day though, I passionately prayed to the Lord, “I love you so much, I want to know you more, and…